Quotable Country – 09/05/10 Edition

My music suffered, and my health suffered from doing too much and not getting enough sleep. I just wasn’t on my game. ●– – Toby Keith on his film career.

In no way, could I be more miserable right now. Guess where I am. Ding, ding, ding! A freakin airplane the size of my cowboy boot! ●– – Really, being in a smaller-than-usual airplane (traveling to or from a place where you were warmly received by hundreds or thousands of fans) is the most miserable circumstance Justin Moore can even imagine? Sorry if I don’t have a whole lot of sympathy for you, pal.

The artist pays for their music, they pay for the recording process, and at the end of the day we don’t own our music. So it’s always been very frustrating to me that we can’t do what we want. So for me, it’s sort of a wild blue yonder for me to be able to own my music, be able to do any kind of music I want at any time and release it any way I wanna release it, and I plan on doin’ that. I plan on doing projects where we’re hangin’ out at the barn rehearsing and recording that live, where we’re doin’ ‘70s rock covers or we’re doin’ a club one night and we’ll record that, put that out — along with sort of a flagship album, too. ●– – Tim McGraw on frustrations and future plans.

He’s been going at it like he’s a new artist, playing shows and working really hard, and he’s been doing this for 10 years. I think he’s one of the best singers in country music, and the fact that he’d never been nominated for male vocalist of the year was getting on my nerves. It’s not just been a huge year for me, it’s been a huge year for both of us. And if you can’t win, wouldn’t you rather lose to someone you love? ●– – Miranda Lambert on Blake Shelton’s CMA nominations, including Male Vocalist (a category she isn’t competing against him in, contrary to the seeming implication of this quote).

It seems like we spent four years trying to chase the first album, but just walking further and further and further away from it. And the minute that I was able to get my hands around the whole thing, it was so simple for me to put together a record that I think is as close to the first record as we’ve ever come. Don’t over think it. Just grab the songs that you know sound like you — the ones that you’ve written or whether you haven’t written. ●– – Gretchen Wilson on (still) striving to recreate the magic of her debut album.

I was raised with way more of a country sound than I probably have today. A lot of musicians, from Tim McGraw to Faith Hill, their early records sound way more country than they do now. ●– – No kidding, Keith Urban.

A lot of the success has to do with moving back home to Oklahoma four years ago and getting back in touch with not only myself but people. Yeah, it’s cool to go to the Bluebird [in Nashville] and hear a song that’s incredibly written and has cool hooks, but the truth is that the guy who buys records in Tishomingo, Okla., doesn’t [care] about that song. He wants to buy a song about beer drinking and working hard. ●– – Blake Shelton on giving up the artsy stuff to reconnect with Joe Sixpack.

[I learned] just to take an idea and push it as far as you can and then push it a whole lot further. You need to be writing something that was just not there before. Shel had a fearlessness in his writing. Whenever I am co-writing I notice, right at the [lyrical] area when people start backing down, that’s the only place you can do something interesting, right on the area where you are teetering. When someone says, “I don’t know if we should go that far,” that’s right where you should go. ●– – Bobby Bare Jr. on lessons learned (re: songwriting) from Shel Silverstein.

Cash: Also, there’s less misogyny in the business than when I was coming up. Maybe not misogyny, but sexism.
Billboard: How did that manifest itself when you came up?
Cash: The first marketing meeting I had about maybe my first or second record, they said in front of me that the image they wanted to create of me was one that was — and I quote — “f—able.”
Billboard: Really?
Cash: I swear to God. This was said to my face. In the building, at a meeting, to my face. I don’t think that would ever happen today. Or at least, it wouldn’t be spoken aloud. (Laughs) ●– – Rosanne Cash to Billboard’s Louis Hau.

What if a young Jimi Hendrix arose in our midst? Where would he find a home? Probably Americana. Or a young Elvis Presley? Americana. Hank Williams? Definitely Americana. ●– – Singer-songwriter Marshall Chapman on the expanding reach of Americana.

It’s a record that could’ve only existed in the nineties, when country music was broad enough to allow outside influences, but self-confident enough to incorporate them without sacrificing its own identity and integrity. “Maybe it Was Memphis” defines an era of country music that approached meritocracy, an era where genuine talent paired with a worthy song was regularly rewarded. An era where an a young artist’s debut single could become a classic as easily as the latest from a veteran superstar. ●– – Country Universe’s Kevin J. Coyne concludes a countdown of the 400 Greatest Singles of the Nineties with Pam Tillis’ “Maybe It Was Memphis.” And I was sure it’d be “The Shake” by Neal McCoy…

I do not know Justin Moore….and won’t remember him after that….GET ORIGINAL….– – Melonie Cannon took to her (public) Facebook wall during the CMA Fest special with some pretty entertaining running commentary on the show (via email tipster).

I can second that about Justin Moore’s fear of flying, a phobia I share. Whenever I find an artist who’s afraid of flying I always ask for tips on coping with it, because they certainly have to do it a lot more than I do. I’ve gotten some decent advice, but nothing has worked for me but Xanax.

I’m appalled at what those label execs said to Rosanne Cash’s face! I mean the word “pokable” would have had so much more class…(lol)

Wow, is Bobby Bare Jr. really comparing his own songwriting to Shel Silverstein?! Now that’s what I call chutzpah!

Marshall Chapman isn’t too far off on his assessment that almost any innovative artist who doesn’t neatly fit commercial radio categories (with music loosely related to country or rock) can find a home on Americana radio. Americana’s vast diversity and inclusiveness is both one of its greatest strengths and weaknesses all at the same time. Its a musical grab bag and most listeners are only going to embrace a small segment of its musical spectrum.

Gretchen Wilson is trying to get back to a style off music that radio no longer favors as they prefer the pop diva vocal gymnastics of Carrie Underwood instead. Ashton Shepherd has recorded 9 new songs and sang the song “Where Country Grows” on the Opry last Saturday might. The song is similar in style and pace to “Sounds So Good” and will be lucky to reach the low 30’s on the singles charts. Top 40 AirHead Radio has no interest in really “country” sounding female artists at this time, and Reba McEntire adjusted accordingly. Miranda lambert might be able to sneak some real country into the Top 10 currently, but not on a consistent basis or radio would lose interest.